Seed drill furrow opener

ABSTRACT

A seed drill in which a furrow opener, serving as the lower portion of the seed delivery tube, is laterally narrow. A pair of press-wheel disks having sharp rims, one at each side of said furrow opener and in close tolerance, is journaled for rotation on axes or an axis substantially at the trailing edge of the said opener and the disks are sufficiently large diametrically to dispose the forward portion of their sharp rims substantially ahead of the leading edge of the furrow opener; the disk axes being vertically adjustable with respect to the said furrow opener. When the said rims are in parallel planes, a soil guard disposed therebetween minimizes the quantity of soil that may pass between the disks.

United States Patent [72] Inventors John E. Hlir,.1r.

[54] SEED DRILL FURROW OPENER 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.C1. Ill/85, l11/88,172/176 [51] int. Cl A01c 5/00 [50] Field ofSearch 111/85, 86, 87, 88; 172/176 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 3,180,291 4/1965 Loomans 111/85 3,177,830 4/1965 Zimmerman111/85 3,319,590 5/1967 Zimmerman 111/85 705,598 7/1902 McCain 111/88730,797 6/1903 Rentsch 1 11/88 1,094,422 4/1914 Bottom l 1 1/851,104,725 7/1914 Aspinwall 1 11/88 2,734,439 2/1956 Padrick Ill/883,093,196 6/1963 Nakatani 111/88 3,228,363 1/1966 Gardner et al...111/88 3,237,702 3/1966 Orendorf'f.... 111/85 3,387,576 6/1968 Gordon111/85 FOREIGN PATENTS 75,954 l/l891 Germany 111/88 21,691 12/1905Sweden 11l/88 Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistanl Examiner-C. W.Hanor Attorney-Norman H. Huff ABSTRACT: A seed drill in which a furrowopener, serving as the lower portion of the seed delivery tube, islaterally narrow. A pair of press-wheel disks having sharp rims, one ateach side of said furrow opener and in close tolerance, is journaled forrotation on axes or an axis substantially at the trailing edge of thesaid opener and the disks are sufficiently large diametrically todispose the forward portion of their sharp rims substantially ahead ofthe leading edge of the furrow opener; the disk axes being verticallyadjustable with respect to the said furrow opener. When the said rimsare in parallel planes, a soil guard disposed therebetween minimizes thequantity of soil that may pass between the disks.

PAIENTEDIIIIII 30 IIIII sum 1 or 3 FIG-l FIG-3 JOHN E HAIR Jr, RICHARDE. HAIR IAIVENTORS- BY W PATENTEBHUV 30 1971 SHEEYBUFQ ENTORS JOHNE.HAIR Jr.

INV

RICHARD E. HAIR FIG-2 3 ,439 PATENTEB Y 30 3,62

sum 3 0f 3 FIG-4 INVIENTORS JOHN E. HAIR Jr. RICHARD E. HAIR SEED DRILLFURROW OPENER Our invention relates to seed drills of the type thatemploy a furrow opening point vertically adjustable to provide a furrowof a preselected depth and is associated with a seed tube open to directa succession of seeds into the furrow so opened. More particularly, theinvention is an improved furrow opener in the aforesaid reference whichhas means for covering the seeds deposited thereby to a predetermineddepth without regard to the depth of the furrow, within reason.

Our invention is an improvement over U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,3 l9,590 and3,385,243;wherein press wheels are associated with furrow openers andinclude rim flanges which during use are disposed at or rearwardly ofthe leading edge of the furrow opener.

It is therefore a principal object of our present invention to provide afurrow opener for grain drills which facilitates selective adjustment ofthe depth of the furrow opener and also selective vertical adjustmentsof the press-wheel disks with respect to the furrow opener.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of the aforesaidfurrow opener wherein the press-wheel disks are of such relativediameter as to facilitate positioning their vertical diameters near thetrailing edge of the furrow opener and still present their sharpcircumferential rims forwardly of the furrow opener.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide means forminimizing the passage of soil between the disks and the furrow openerdisposed therebetween.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent and meaningful during the course of thefollowing specification when considered in association with theaccompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention isgraphically illustrated. lt is to be understood, however, that thedrawings are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scopeof the invention. It should be also understood that various changes inconstruction may be resorted to in the course of manufacture without inany way departing from the spirit of the invention which is to beunderstood only in accordance with the appended claims. Furthermore, itis to be understood that while the invention is described in oneparticular association, it is not our intention to unnecessarily limitthe applicability of the invention but we desire to reserve to ourselvesthe claimed invention for every use of which it is now known orsubsequently discovered to be susceptible.

Other advantages and features of this invention will become apparentfrom the more detailed description following in which like referencenumerals are employed to designate similar parts in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a seed drill having the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the furrow opener/press-wheeldisks assembly with a portion of the seed delivery tube in section;

FIG. 3 is a lateral section through said assembly on a horizontal planeindicated by line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and on a slightly reduced scale;

FIG. 4 is an isometric of the preferred dirt-deflecting means whichserves to adjustably mount the press-wheel disks to the furrow opener;and

FIG. 5 is a reduced scale plan view of a modified furrowopener/press-wheel disks assembly.

Having reference now to the drawings in greater detail, we have shown aconventional grain drill which includes a main frame 11, mobilized byground-engaging support wheels 12-12 which are shown disposed fore andaft, but may be located at the lateral ends of the drill 10 as isconventional in some currently marketed equipment. A seed hopper 13 iscarried by the frame and is provided with any of the common andwell-known seed discharging devices (not shown) adapted to discharge, ata predetermined rate, successions of seeds into the plural seed deliverytubes 14, and one of which is shown.

Pivotally connected to the frame ll we show one tool arm 15 which ismovable in a vertical plane by means of the lever 16 to manuallyselected positions and yieldably held at such selected positions byspring 17 in the common manner. It will be understood, that there areplural arms 15, each of which supports a furrow opener 20, by disposinga pin or bolt 18 through aligned apertures (not shown) in the rearwardbifurcation of arm 15 and the bore 21 in the interposed flange 22.Angular adjustment of the furrow opener, with respect to the arm 15 iseffected by inserting a shear pin 19 through a selected bore 23-23 abovethe bifurcated end of arm 15 in the conventional manner.

It should be noted that the furrow opener 20 may be fabricated fromrigid metal parts to form a laterally thin vertical leg having a hollowcore which constitutes a lower portion 24 of the seed delivery tube 14,which lower portion is open at its lower end to facilitate deposit ofthe successive seeds 8-5 in the furrow F formed by the furrow opener 20having a forwardly arched shoe 25 at its toe, removably secured thereonby a bolt at 27.

A tongue 26 extends rearwardly from the shoe and terminates at the tubeportion 24 and serves to form at the bottom of the furrow F an escaperoute for the seeds 8 as they fall from the tube portion 14.

Spaced above its lower end a suitable distance, we weld or otherwisesecure on the trailing edge of the furrow opener 20 a verticallyelongate mounting block 28 having a series of vertically spaced axiallylateral bores 29 therethrough which are adapted to removably receive apin or bolt 30 which extends through axially aligned holes 40-40 inspaced arms 41-41 of an arcuate guard member 42 bifurcated at its lowerend 43 to receive the furrow opener 20 therebetween.

The are of the guard 42 is generated from an axis coincidental to abearing sleeve 44 affixed to the rearward ends of said arms, as bywelding, and extending laterally of the furrow opener 20 adjacent to itstrailing edge.

A wheel shaft 31 is journaled in said bearing sleeve 44 and carries onits ends frustoconical press-wheel disks 32-32. The disks 32-32 may bemounted to the shaft 31 in any desired manner as, for example, flangedsleeves 33-33 to which the disks 32-32 are secured by stud bolts 34-34,are releasably fixed to the ends of the shaft 31 by means of set bolts35-35. Obviously, if desired, the shaft could be fixed, and the disks 32journaled thereon; it being desirable that the disks 32 be freelyrotatable, either independently of each other or together as a unit.

The arcuate rims 36 are sharp, not flanged, as in the prior art, so thatthey will assist in opening the furrow F, thus minimizing the pullingforce required, cutting debris and guiding a maximum amount of soil awayfrom the center of the furrow opener 20. It is to be noted that in thepreferred embodiment each rim 36 lies in a vertical plane, parallel tothe other end and as near to the lateral sides of the furrow opener asis practical.

Since the disks 32-32 are substantially concavo-convex in section (FIG.3) the guard 42 is disposed between the disks 32-32 forwardly of thefurrow opener 20 and has its lateral edges shaped and disposed to have aclose tolerance relationship with the concave inner faces of said disks32-32. This structure minimizes the amount of soil which is allowed topass between the disks.

The depth of furrows F is dictated by the manual positioning of thelever 16, and the depth of soil cover C is determined by the verticaladjustment of the press-wheel disks 32-32.

In operation, the furrows are neatly cut and trash is easily severed bythe sharp rims 36 of the disks 32. Inspection of FIG. 2 will reveal thatthe arch of shoe 25 and the lower end front configuration of the furrowopener 20 together with the adjacent portions of the sharp rims 36define a subsurface V- shape saddle 52 into which trash on the surfaceand subsurface tends to be directed, if not sooner severed. The furrowopener, being rigid, serves as a shear bar to hold any trash which maymigrate to this point while the sharp rims 36 of rotating discs slicesthrough the trash so held thus resulting in less draft effort beingrequired and more consistent formation of furrows and seed covering. Thetrash cannot escape upwardly between the discs because it is precludedtherefrom by the guard 42. The conical shapes of the cooperating disks32 press the soil into a V-shape section to the desired depth and themoist soil is allowed to fall back over the seed from a horizontal planecoincident to the lowermost rim position of the disks 32 to a manuallyadjusted depth C. The vertical diameters of the disks 32 are on a planedisposed in near spaced relation to the trailing edge of the furrowopener 20 to preclude earth falling behind the trailing edge of thefurrow opener and forwardly of the disks wherein control of the coveringdepth C is lost.

Figure 5 shows a furrow opener wherein the press-w heel disks 50-50 havetheir sharp rims 51-51 disposed on vertical planes but angularly relatedto each other to dispose their leading edges in near relationship toeach other. In this species the need for the guard 42 is obviated.

Having thus described our invention, we desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States the following:

1. In a seed drill having a mobile frame and a seed hopper with aplurality of seed outlets, each adapted to discharge seeds in successioninto a seed delivery tube having a lower portion open at its lower end,the improvement comprising:

a rigid, laterally thin, vertically adjustable furrow opener carried bythe frame and extending forwardly of the lower portion of said seeddelivery tube at its lower end;

a pair of disks having generally conical outer faces extending outwardlyfrom their rims toward their axes;

the rims of said disks being sharp and lying in vertical planes one ateach lateral side of said furrow opener in near spaced relationshipthereto; journaled for rotation about their axes and extending forwardlyof said furrow opener and together therewith defining a V-shape saddledisposed below the ground surface during seeding operation;

said disks being disposed to place their vertical diameters sufficientlynear a vertical lateral plane at the trailing edge of said furrow openerand delivery tube to press the opener-separated soil into slopingcompacted sidewalls from the rims of the disks upwardly, whereby thesoil separated by said opener below a horizontal plane at the bottom ofsaid rims will fall back to cover the seeds discharged from the lowerend of said tube; and

means for adjusting the said disks vertically with respect to saidfurrow opener, whereby to selectively vary the depth of covering forsaid seeds.

2. The device defined in claim 1 wherein:

the planes of the rims of said disks are substantially parallel, wherebythe forwardly presented sharp rims are spaced from each other; and

means for minimizing the passage of soil between said disks.

3. The device defined in claim 1 wherein:

said disks are supported for vertical adjustments by means adjustablyfixed on said furrow opener.

4. The device defined in claim 2 wherein:

said disks are supported for vertical adjustments by means adjustablyfixed on said furrow opener.

5. The device defined in claim 2 wherein:

said means for minimizing the passage of soil between the diskscomprises:

a guard having at least a portion disposed forwardly of said furrowopener and having its laterally disposed edges between and in closetolerance to said spaced disks and extending circumferentially from apoint above the soils surface downwardly and rearwardly to substantiallythe said trailing edge of said furrow opener.

6. The device defined in claim 5, wherein:

said guard is bifurcated at its rearward end and in straddlingrelationship with respect to said furrow opener.

7. The device defined in claim 5, wherein:

spaced parallel arms secure to and extend rearwardly from said guard andstraddle said furrow opener a vertical mounting block fixed rearwardlyof and relative to said furrow opener and having a series of verticallyspaced axially lateral bores therethrough;

said arms having axially aligned holes selectively positionablecompanion to each bore, whereby to serve as said means for adjusting thesaid disks vertically; and

a lateral shaft carried by said arms rearwardly of said holes andcarrying said disks at the ends thereoffor rotation.

1. In a seed drill having a mobile frame and a seed hopper with aplurality of seed outlets, each adapted to discharge seeds in successioninto a seed delivery tube having a lower portion open at its lower end,the improvement comprising: a rigid, laterally thin, verticallyadjustable furrow opener carried by the frame and extending forwardly ofthe lower portion of said seed delivery tube at its lower end; a pair ofdisks having generally conical outer faces extending outwardly fromtheir rims toward their axes; the rims of said disks being sharp andlying in vertical planes one at each lateral side of said furrow openerin near spaced relationship thereto; journaled for rotation about theiraxes and extending forwardly of said furrow opener and togethertherewith defining a V-shape saddle disposed below the ground surfaceduring seeding operation; said disks being disposed to place theirvertical diameters sufficiently near a vertical lateral plane at tHetrailing edge of said furrow opener and delivery tube to press theopenerseparated soil into sloping compacted sidewalls from the rims ofthe disks upwardly, whereby the soil separated by said opener below ahorizontal plane at the bottom of said rims will fall back to cover theseeds discharged from the lower end of said tube; and means foradjusting the said disks vertically with respect to said furrow opener,whereby to selectively vary the depth of covering for said seeds.
 2. Thedevice defined in claim 1 wherein: the planes of the rims of said disksare substantially parallel, whereby the forwardly presented sharp rimsare spaced from each other; and means for minimizing the passage of soilbetween said disks.
 3. The device defined in claim 1 wherein: said disksare supported for vertical adjustments by means adjustably fixed on saidfurrow opener.
 4. The device defined in claim 2 wherein: said disks aresupported for vertical adjustments by means adjustably fixed on saidfurrow opener.
 5. The device defined in claim 2 wherein: said means forminimizing the passage of soil between the disks comprises: a guardhaving at least a portion disposed forwardly of said furrow opener andhaving its laterally disposed edges between and in close tolerance tosaid spaced disks and extending circumferentially from a point above thesoil''s surface downwardly and rearwardly to substantially the saidtrailing edge of said furrow opener.
 6. The device defined in claim 5,wherein: said guard is bifurcated at its rearward end and in straddlingrelationship with respect to said furrow opener.
 7. The device definedin claim 5, wherein: spaced parallel arms secure to and extendrearwardly from said guard and straddle said furrow opener; a verticalmounting block fixed rearwardly of and relative to said furrow openerand having a series of vertically spaced axially lateral borestherethrough; said arms having axially aligned holes selectivelypositionable companion to each bore, whereby to serve as said means foradjusting the said disks vertically; and a lateral shaft carried by saidarms rearwardly of said holes and carrying said disks at the endsthereof for rotation.